Underweight.

Stephanie - posted on 07/05/2011
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My baby is 5 mo, & apparently underweight, she shows no signs of dehydration or anything of the sort just needs a little bit more pudge is the best way to put it, I've tried giving her a bottle but she refuses it (I've tried countless different bottles/formulas) and she refuses solids? I've increased feeding to the point were she is almost constantly feeding, any ideas on what else I can do?

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Lori - posted on 07/06/2011

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Has she lost weight or is she just in a lower percentile bracket than you or her dr think she should be in? If you are nursing on demand (as often as baby wants), and she is growing and hitting milestones, then she is probably just a healthy little girl. I know it's hard not to worry to much, but remember, we worry if they're to small, we worry if they're to big. Each baby has their own growth patterns, and if you exclusively nurse it will be different than a formula fed baby. Almost all women make enough to feed their babies without ever using formula, unless they are away from baby for long periods of time and can't pump enough (pumps are not near as effective as baby).

At 5 months old your baby has no nutritional needs for anything other than your breast milk. Don't worry about her refusing solids, shell eat them when she is ready.

most of these doctors charts showing ideal weights are not based on a strictly breastfed babies....formula fed babies are on average larger than breastfed babes and gain at a faster rate because they tend to be slightly overfed. personaly my little one didnt gain anything from about 5-7months, im not saying that it makes it OK,,,but she was fine, ppl were worried, but once she got onto solids it was more than abovious that she wasnt starving, her pees and poops were normal, and even tho i was freaking out about not seeing a major incline on the charts, she was completly OK. she is a tiny lil girl and shes just built that way, never seemed to ever have an ounce of fat on her bdy and she is VERY active...my theoory is that she was burning it off before it could stick to her ribs. shes no almost 2 and the bf phased out at about 18months, and shes still tiny. so tiny that im using her leggings from last summer as capris for this summer because her waist still fits a 12month pant size! LOL

Underweight according to who, Stephanie? Perhaps she's just petite? Was it a health professional who suggested she is underweight? Bear in mind that many medical professionals still use growth charts for formula fed babies, so their definition of "underweight" may be incorrect. See this link for breastfed babies' growth patterns:

Some babies are small and that's perfectly ok. Is she otherwise happy and meeting milestones? I wouldn't worry about solids. Breast milk has more calories than baby food. If you really wanted to try something the only thing I would suggest is to make sure that she's thoroughly emptying the first breast before offering the second. You can try gently squeezing your breast while she's nursing to help get out the hindmilk. By letting her nurse until you seem "empty" on the first side you're ensuring that she's getting a lot of fatty hindmilk.

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Rachel - posted on 07/12/2011

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Don't stress! My daughter (she is 2 now) has always been low on the percentages. The doctor always said ohh she is still really lean, but when anyone looked at her she looked healthy. I breastfed her which was also a big difference. I wouldn't try to over feed her. When I saw how much lactation nurses wanted her to eat right after I had her I thought, "Yeah right!" I let her nurse on demand and how much she wanted. She has been super healthy. Even now she is at 20% for weight. That is ok with me, because I know it is where her body naturally wants to be at and she is healthy. I also never gave her any other food besides breastmilk for the first 6 months. Even though others encouraged me to "boost her weight" by giving her foods I knew that was not the answer. About the first 18 months of her life she has been below 10% on weight for her checkups. Do what you think is right. You know what is best for your baby and you know her needs.

Nothing. How much does she weigh? Are you breastfeeding her? Feed her when she should normally eat. Overfeeding her isn't going to make her gain more weight, it might even make her sick. She is fine, I wouldn't worry about her. This must be something that your pediatrician is telling you...

Babies grow at different speeds as well, if your baby is eatting regular and increasing bottle amounts regularly over time then i wouldn't worry by this i mean if your baby has increased the amount your baby has eaten since birth, and has been on a steady incline in weight then it is nothing to worry about. One thing you can do is print off a growth chart, and put all her weights on it since birth, then connect the dots. if the line shows a steady line, of percentile then your fine. If she has stayed in the say 50 % growth line (or close to it) since birth then you know she's stayed on a steady growth. If there has been a jump from 50% to 25% then that is something that I would be more concerned about. My son when he was a baby wouldn't gain weight for the first 2 months of his life and the doctor was concerned, all of a sudden, at 6 months, my son jumped to the 95% for his height and weight and he's stayed in the 95 % for both height and weight since. I wouldn't necessarly be concerned about being underweight as long as it is a steady growth pattern happening. If she is not gaining weight or losing weight over a long period of time, it would be something to talk to the doctor about. She could also be going through a growth spurt too. Babies will get pudgy first then grow long and skinny.

my daughter has always been on the small side, she never really got the baby fat. as long as you are changing 4-6 wet diapers a day she is not dehydrated. I would not try to force her to eat all the time. Talk to the dr about her health. if everything is on track but just underweight I wouldn't worry about it, she will catch up.